So for this simulated expansion team we are looking for a manager of the team who's job will be to set the starting lineup based on the players drafted, by myself , the GM and the scouting director. They will also indicated when to make substitutions. This could be a really fun post for those who know baseball strategy. An added bonus is that the manager can choose who they want to be on their coaching staff from members of the message boards and delegate responsibility to those people. I am also opening up two positions that are more for fun creativity than anything baseball realted, but are needed for the day to day survival of a team. I will need an In-season Promotions Manager, and a Choreographer. Basically the In-Season Promotions Manager get to come up with give-aways and special nights and whatnot. It's a chance to be creative and have a little fun. The Choreographer gets to choose the music that the team comes out to and the mascot and events that will occur during the game. If any body is interested in any of these three posts, reply to this post by July 2nd. If there are multiple posts for a position one will be chosen if nobody does, then it'll be first-come first serve after July 2nd.

It's a though experiment called the Expansion Draft League. What I am trying to do is create a team of all posters that will compete against regular baseball teams. I need an entire front office and manager to control the players we'll be drafting and everything. If you're interested, I'm am currently posting for a GM. Leave a comment with an explaination of why you'd make a good GM on the group page.

One of my ultimate "fun" goals in life is to see the ballpark in every MLB city. So far I've been to 11 ballparks and am looking to try to get to at least one new one a year. So far I've been to:

H.H.H. Metrodome: Home stadium, not many people like it, due to cramped seating and artificial feel to the game. I personally don't have a problem with it. It is nice to go to anything in Minnesota in the summer where it isn't 90+ degrees and mosquito infested. Add to that, the decided homefield advantage during the World Series victories, and it has done all right as the home of the Twins. Still can't wait for the new ballpark to open.

Coors Field: Aside from housing my favorite team, the stadium itself is a great venue. The concession stands are open to the field so you never have to miss a play. Fountain in the outfield are great and the scenery behind the centerfield bleachers is awesome. Ticket prices were still very reasonable last time I was, there, but I get the feeling that they'll jump a little this season.

PNC Park: This was my favorite ballpark. I love the view of the bridges crossing the river just behind centerfield. The food was great (Primanti Brothers sandwiches are the best). There was a great view of the field from the seats I was in both times I've been there. I would love if the new Twins ballpark incorporates a little of PNC and Coors.

Jacob's Field (now Progressive Field): I lived in Cleveland when this stadium was just build. I was able to get a ticket the first year and thought it was awful because all I could see was left field and the scoreboard from where I was at. The angles of the seats were horrible. I have since had a chance to go back a few times when the Indians weren't playing so hot and got better seats. Now I think it is a pretty great ballpark. I recommend upper deck first base side as close to the front of the section as possible to whomever goes. Seeing the Terminal Tower out in left field is great. Plenty to do outside the game as well for vacations.

Cleveland Municipal Stadium: The old Indians ballpark (since leveled and built upon). I had some great memories of going to that stadium and watching the Indians play. That was back when they were closer to the team in "Major League" than the ALCS team of last year, or the perennial powerhouse of the late 90's. It was a great stadium right on Lake Erie. the wooden seats were the best. Some days when I'd go, my family would have a section to itself and we'd make a ton of noise cheering by banging the seats. Sad to see the stadium go.

Kauffman Stadium: Nice little ballpark. Very cosy atmosphere. The fountains are something to see. I was there for an interleague game against the Marlins, I believe. Not the best game to watch if you're not a fan of either team, but still a nice trip from Minnesota.

Great American Ballpark: The riverboat theme is a great idea based on the histroy of the region. I liked the statues out from of the Cincinnati Reds greats. Not my favorite ballpark, but I wouldn't be opposed to going again some day.

Rogers Centre:When I went here, it rained all day leading up to the game. I went to the CN Tower and got to see the city and stadium from an awesome perspective. Once the game was getting set to get undeway, they opened the roof and it was a pretty great experience. The stadium is huge. I enjoyed how easy it was to get there and being in another country, even/especially Canada was fun in and of itself.

Angel Stadium: Los Angeles? Anaheim? Who cares? It was a fun experience. The huge helmets out front were pretty cool. I love the mountain out in center field. It is very aesthetically pleasing. Can't beat Southern California weather for outdoor baseball.

AT&T Park: I like the location of this stadium a lot. Right off the Bay. The garlic fries were awesome. There plenty to see at this ballpark, from the scenery outside the stadium to the brick facades inside. Getting to the game is so easy because of the BART and rest of the transportation network. As a side note, San Francisco has to be one of the most picturesque and entertaining cities in the world. I enjoyed it so much that I went back the past year for my honeymoon.

Miller Park: Just went here for the first time last year. It is a very nice ballpark. I think that the retractable roof style that is used here is exceptional. The in game entertainment is great. Can't beat the Sausage Races (sorry Pittsburgh, the Pierogi Races just don't cut it). The only thing that needs a little work is the parking situation. To anybody who has never been there before, show up early or you'll be parking at least a 20 minute walk from the gates. The brats were great.

I've been looking into either Chicago stadium, St. Louis, Texas, Detroit or Philadelphia as my next stadium trip. There may also be an all out west coast trip in my future to take me from San Diego up to Seattle, cost permitting. If anybody has any tips on their home stadium or any reason for me to pick one over another for my next, let me know. I always enjoy seeing what other cities have to offer, and what they find important enough to bring into their ballpark. I also enjoy trying the food that is unique to each ballpark. Can't enjoy the game like the locals without the local cuisine.

A spork is an unusual kind of silverware. It is based upon a spoon, with the addition of the tines of a fork, and sometimes the serrated edge of a knife. Canonically, there are three or four tines.

Etymology

The word spork is a combination of spoon and fork. Though Bill Clinton called the spork "a big, new idea" in March 1995, the word "spork" appeared in the 1909 supplement to the Century Dictionary, where it was described as a trade name and "a 'portmanteau-word' applied to a long, slender spoon having at the end of the bowl projections resembling the tines of a fork." A variation of the spork is the splade, which in addition to the overall spoon shape, and fork tines, has a somewhat sharp edge or blade on one or both sides.

History of the Spork

The spork is the descendant of the "runcible spoon" mentioned in the Edward Learpoem "The Owl and the Pussycat", re-moulded by the science of modern materials. Sporks have been manufactured since, at least, the late 1800's. The Folgate Silver Plate Company of England manufactured one in sometime between 1875 and 1900.

In the United Kingdom, the mark "Spork" was registered by Plastico Limited as TM 1052291 effective September 18, 1975. The mark is still in effect. In a 1999 lawsuit broght by Plastico against Regalzone, a Justice Neuberger wrote: "I accept that the word Spork involves a clever idea of making a single word by eliding the end of the word spoon and beginning of the word fork. The fact that it is clever and the fact that the meaning of Spork could be said to be obvious once it is explained does not mean that it is obvious what it is. Indeed, I would have thought that if one asked a person in 1975 what a Spork was, he or she would not know. If one then explained what it was and how the word came about, one might then be told that it was obvious or that it was clever."

Regalzone now calls their sporks snack spoons.

Rumors

There are many false rumors about the origin of the spork and the word spork. According to a rumor circulated in the "Spork FAQ", the spork was invented in the 1940s by the United States Army, which introduced them to occupied Japan. This rumor has all the hallmarks of an urban legend. Virtually every reference to the occupied Japan theory misspells General Douglas MacArthur's name as McArthur, lending credence to the notion that all these references have a common origin.

Another popular Internet rumour describes the spork as the creation of a nameless resource-pressed and inventive Nazi scientist towards the end of World War II. Supposedly, the spork was designed for use with field ration kits issued to front line troops. No known historical documents validate this urban legend, but it is clearly wrong. Both the word spork and the utensil predate World War II.

Materials and Uses

Sporks can be made from plastic, metal, or wood. Plastic sporks are disposable, but metal and wood sporks are meant to be cleaned and reused. Metals such as stainless steel, lightweight aluminum and even the very lightweight (but costly) titanium have been used in spork manufacture.

Sporks have been spotted at many other restaurants and in school cafeterias. Sporks are also available for consumer purchase, and are often found at picnics and similar occasions.

Metal sporks are also sometimes called grapefruit spoons, and used on that fruit, whose successful total consumption is aided by a combination scooping-and-stabbing tool. Others prefer to reserve the name "grapefruit spoon" to a spoon that has been given a serrated edge like a knife around part of its lip.

Sporks, especially the lighter types, are favored by backpackers, rather than carrying the extra weight of a forkandspoon.

The pastry fork has a similar combination: it combines a fork and a knife, for one handed cutting-and-spearing.

Quotes

I came here to offer a way to make peace with our Republican friends on this heated school lunch issue. Al Gore and I have discovered a reinventing government way, Mr. Armey, to get around this terrible rhetoric we've been flinging at you on school lunches. We have a way to save money through streamlining that does not require us to deprive our children of food. Instead of cutting food, we're going to cut the cutlery. And here's how—with a spork. Now, you know, I don't know how many of you know this, I've been eating off these things for years. I never knew they were called sporks. But that's what they are. This is the symbol of my administration. This is a cross between a spoon and a fork. No more false choice between the left utensil and the right utensil. This is not an ideological choice. This is a choice in the middle and a choice for the future. This is a big, new idea—the spork.

President Bill Clinton at the March 1995 Radio-TV Correspondents dinner.

Sporks, for those of you who have been spared, are the dreaded half-spoon, half-fork utensils handed out by some fast-food places that have tines too short to spear anything but are strategically placed to make sure anything liquid winds up on your necktie, blouse, shirt or navel - depending on your choice of attire.